An estimated 10 million people suffer from fibromyalgia here in the U.S., and up to six percent of the population worldwide have this condition, reports the National Fibromyalgia Association. While the disorder does occur in men and children, up to 90 percent of people who have fibromyalgia are women. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most people are first diagnosed with fibromyalgia during middle age. Painful and baffling, fibromyalgia is a condition without a definitive cause, treatment, or cure.

The average person feels a little jagged around the edges as a result of a sleepless night or even a night when the quality of sleep was less than optimal. However, a recent study conducted by the Neuroimaging Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley has revealed that “people who are highly anxious may actually be more vulnerable” to serious anxiety issues in the aftermath of a sleepless night.

The University of California, Berkeley study scanned the brains of 18 adults (who were all in good health) on two different occasions. One was after an ordinary night’s worth of sleep and the other after a night where they were deprived of sleep. During each session, subjects were exposed to a period of prolonged anticipation of a potentially negative experience. Those who experienced sleep deprivation the night before had reactions that were significantly stronger than those who had enjoyed a more restful sleep on the previous evening. In some cases, primarily for those predisposed to anxiety, the reaction was amplified by as much as 60 percent.

Which Comes First, Anxiety or Sleep Issues?

Once upon a time it was well understood that chronic anxiety can do a real number on your ability to sleep. For a long time, it was believed that sleep problems were simply side effects of anxiety disorder. However, new research indicates that sleep deprivation can actually be the cause of an anxiety disorder. Research also indicates that patients suffering from almost any psychiatric disorder also suffer from some form of sleep disorder. People who suffer from chronic insomnia are at a much greater risk of developing some type of anxiety disorder.

It’s a busy world we live in today. Thanks to advancements in technology, we seem to be always connected. Add that to the stress of dealing with a demanding job, worrying about our children or aging parents, or concern over a health condition either for ourselves and a loved one, and there’s no surprise that some of us have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was some tool that could relax our minds and let go of our stress and worries to fall into a peaceful deep sleep? Well there is, and it’s called guided imagery.

What is Guided Imagery for Sleep?

Have you ever “counted sheep” to help you to fall asleep? If so, you were practicing guided imagery without even knowing it. In a nutshell, guided imagery is a relaxation technique where one’s thoughts are purposely redirected through imagination and visualization to achieve a desired goal. While this goal is commonly to help with falling asleep, it’s also used to help adults cope with a serious health condition, such as cancer, manage stress, depression, pain, and anxiety. It’s also a helpful technique for children, particularly in helping to chase away their fears.

Benefits of Guided Imagery for Sleep

Using guided imagery for sleep disturbances can help both adults and children alike find a soothing, relaxing, and comforting way to drift off to sleep. As a directed form of visualization, guided imagery is based on the thought that the body and mind are connected. By tapping into one’s own imagination, guided imagery can relax oneself into a soothing slumber.

Black Friday (and/or Cyber Monday) may be the best days in the whole year to buy a deluxe memory foam mattress… or anything else for that matter. The discounts are deeper than at any other time. Retailers are frantic about moving merchandise, so frantic that they might even be willing to haggle over already slashed prices. It’s a shopping bonanza! Of course, along with the frenzy of consumerism comes sleep’s number one nemesis: anxiety. Americans are already an anxious people. According to the World Health Organization, we’re the most anxious population of any country on Earth. It’s no secret that anxiety is dangerous—in addition to affecting sleep (or perhaps because it does), anxiety can lead to heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and depression. And the holidays are notoriously high-anxiety times already. So, before Black Friday washes over you in all its sale-y glory, protect your nerves with these five easy tips.

I am a terrible sleeper. My brain thinks when the lights go out it’s time to think. I’ve solved world hunger in my sleeplessness. I’ve rearranged the furniture to transform my thrift store apartment into a masterpiece of modern design. I’ve negotiated peace treaties between warring countries. I’ve balanced my checkbook from memory. Instead of resting, I exhaust myself. It would be ironic if it weren’t so terribly frustrating! The worst part is that I’m so tired during the day, I fall asleep in all sorts of weird places: on the train, at school, even standing up! Over the years, I have discovered a few tried and true secrets that help me sleep: mysterious tinctures and techniques that power down my head so I can drift off into dreamland like a normal stinkin’ person.

We all know that one of the leading causes of sleep deprivation is from stress at work. But have you ever wondered what the most sleep deprived profession is as well as the most well-rested profession? The answers to those questions may surprise you. While the accepted “norm” of the amount of sleep we need is around eight hours each night, many of us rarely get that exact amount. Let’s go over which careers are the best and worse for sleeping, so we can get you spending more hours on your comfortable botanical mattress and less hours stressing about work.

Contact Amber Merton

Every Plushbeds latex mattress, latex topper and memory foam mattress is sold with a carbon neutral mindset.

What this means that we have obtained an offset to balance out any greenhouse gas emissions we create by running our website and back end operations.
We worked with TerraPass on doing an audit. They helped us measure exactly how much carbon we were putting into the atmosphere by running the Plushbeds website.

Armed with that knowledge, TerraPass has taken actions to offset our carbon footprint by funding clean energy and other projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
At the end of the day our emissions will be balanced out by a comparable amount of reductions.

Every TerraPass project is conducted and verified according to a publically available carbon offset standard such as the Voluntary Carbon Standard 2007 and the Climate Action Reserve.

We hope that in time many more websites will also become carbon neutral.